Special Populations Articles

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kids’ fitnessGood news on the kids’ fitness front: Congress passed the 2004 spending bill that contains the Carol M. White Physical Education for Progress (PEP) Program, allocating $70 million to PEP.
The money will translate into approximately 300 grants awarded in the 2004 to 2005 school year to improve physical education programs in local public and private schools, and faith- and community-based organizations. PEP Grant funds are used to purchase fitness and sports equipment and train teachers in innovative physical education programs.

governmentPrograms aimed at helping prevent childhood obesity got a big boost when the U.S. Senate passed the Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act (IMPACT) last December. The bill aims at reducing obesity, particularly among children and adolescents, by encouraging better nutrition and more physical activity.

If you train elderly clients, you’re aware that preventing falls is a key motivation for them to exercise. Now there’s news that the elderly can tolerate high-force eccentric strength training and that it can decrease their risk for falls, according to research in the May 2003 issue of The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences (vol. 58, pp. 419-24).

On one hand advocates for children’s health wish that schools didn’t sell soda and sugary drinks at schools. On the other hand schools often desperately need the added income that drink sales bring to them.

Is your kid coming down with a cold? Do you think that herbal remedies offer a safer, more effective approach than traditional cold medications? Well, you might want to think twice before reaching for your bottle of echinacea when it comes to treating upper-respiratory-tract infections (URIs) in children, according to a new study in the December 3, 2003, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

With obesity on the rise among our nation’s children, we need to do everything we can to underscore the importance of physical activity in childhood. One way to do that is to remind parents how their own activity levels and support can affect the future health of their kids.

Because today’s kids are spending more and more time glued to the computer (see related story on this page), some Web-savvy experts advise using the computer to encourage physical activity.
Here’s a list of fun Web sites (courtesy of the Wall Street Journal) that are designed to do just that:

Wonder where all those computers and video games purchased during the holidays will end up? According to a new study conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, many of these electronic toys will likely find a home in the children’s nursery.

Angela, a litigation partner at a San
Francisco law firm, was a perfectly healthy 36-year-old woman who had just adopted a 4-month-old Guatemalan baby. On July 30, 2002, she was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma.